When Cellers Avgvstvs Forvm planted their first vines in the 80’s, they chose a unique location, known for its “terroir”, just 3km from the Mediterranean Sea. Thus producing a vineyard with a long history, having in mind the remains of what was once the Via Augusta, the Roman road that connected Rome with the most important cities of the Mediterranean. Their vinegars are produced from these wines, which are partially acidified very slowly using an artisan method. The acidification continues in 300-litre oak barrels. Four or five times a year, just 20% of each barrel is bottled using a system similar to the Spanish solera system, to deliver an exceptional product.
“From Albert Roca”
Vinegar, like olive oil, are very present ingredients in the Mediterranean diet. For this reason, when my parents started the way to elaborate the Avgvstvs wines, it was a question of time that the curiosity and the pleasure to create a good vinegar gave rise, to the birth of “Forvm”. My parents knew the wine world well but they were largely unaware of the process of making the vinegar. Anyway, they started from a very basic and important principle: “To make a good wine you have to start with grapes of high quality, then to make a” good vinegar “you have to start with a” good wine “.
In this way and starting from barrels full of “good wine” made by us, we left them for years in the open air (outside the cellar) exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather (rain, water, wind …). And it was a question of time, that the own natural evolution of the product, the oxygen and the acetic bacteria, transformed those wines (alcohol) into acetic acid (vinegar). And of course … life’s coincidences caused that during a wine tasting (done informally) with some friends in the cellar, one of them (chef by profession) wanted to taste this vinegar (which we elaborated only for the consumption of our family) and fell in love!
Thus was born what is today one of the “star” products of our winery, the FORVM vinegar.
In our winery, every year we buy new French 300L barrels, which we use first to make white wines such as Avgvstvs Chardonnay or Avgvstvs Xarel-lo. Later we used them for 2-3 years to make the red wines. (Magnum VI, Trajanvs …) And then we use them for our Forvm vinegars, where they become part of our solera system with more than 1,200 barrels currently. Each of our vinegars are monovarietal (made 100% with a unique variety of grapes) because in this way, we understand can better reflect the consumer as each of these varieties is expressed in its pure state. So you can discover how is a vinegar made with 100% Chardonnay wine, 100% Cab. Sauvignon or 100% Merlot in front of the Mediterranean Sea.
To finish and as I usually say on behalf of my parents, “they would never have imagined that the vinegar they used initially and exclusively for the family’s consumption, would come today to be present in so many cuisines around the world. It’s all a dream come true. “
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